Tales from the Script
by Parsec
Summary: The Powerpuff Girls write a play based on their lives as superheroes, and their class performs it...but someone's not happy about it...


Tales from the Script ****

TALES FROM THE SCRIPT

By: Mark J. Hadley

* * * * * * * * *

The city of Townsville…home of the Powerpuff Girls, and the site of their many exploits in crimefighting. Day in and day out, they face all kinds of situations, from the simple—like a cat stuck in a tree—to the downright bizzare—such as a hideous twelve-headed sea monster attacking the city. Yes, these three superpowered children may only be in kindergarten, but they _already_ have many a story to tell.

And speaking of kindergarten, our story opens at Pokey Oaks, where the kindergarten teacher, Ms. Keane, has just given the Powerpuff Girls an interesting proposal…

"You want us to write a play?" Blossom asked, sitting at the desk with her sisters.

"That's right," Ms. Keane said. "A play about your lives as superheroes. Once you finish it, we could have the class perform it for all the parents."

"Yeah!" Buttercup exclaimed. "I think it's a _great_ idea!"

"Cool!" Bubbles added.

Blossom smiled at the possibilities, but then asked, "Isn't it hard to write a play? Are you sure we can do it?"

"I think you can," Ms. Keane assured them. "You girls are very bright and creative for your age, and with the three of you working together on it, I'm sure you can come up with something fun and exciting for the class. What do you say?"

Giving the other girls a brief nod, Blossom said, "We'll do it!" The rest of the class cheered.

Ms. Keane smiled happily, "Excellent! I look forward to seeing the finished product! Just take your time and do your best."

"We will!" Bubbles agreed.

In the back of the room, Princess Morebucks, who had been sitting quietly until this discussion, was smiling ear-to-ear, as she thought, _Yes! A school play…and with_ my _glamour and acting ability, I'm a shoe-in for the lead role! Once everyone sees _me_ as the star of the play, _I'll_ be the most popular girl in the whole class!_

* * *

At home, the girls sat around a small worktable, pencils and paper at the ready…but nothing written yet. They had been thinking about where to begin for the past hour, but none of them had come up with anything that seemed interesting enough.

Buttercup, her head leaning on one of her arms, suggested, "How about that time when we fought the giant slug beast?"

"Bleahh," Blossom said. "Too gross. Not for a play. We don't want to make everyone sick."

"How about the time we saved all those animals from the zoo when it caught on fire?" Bubbles asked.

"No way," Buttercup said, shaking her head. "Where's the action? Where's the adventure? We don't want to _bore_ everyone."

Blossom tapped her pencil a few times on the table, and suddenly, her face lit up as an idea came to her, "Hey! Remember that one time Mojo created that giant dinosaur-like creature, and we had to fight _both_ of them? That'd make a good story, wouldn't it?"

"Hey, yeah!" Buttercup said. "That was a _great_ fight! I say we do it."

Bubbles nodded, "Yes!"

"All right, _finally_ we can start writing this thing!" Blossom said. She quickly scribbled down the idea on the paper so that they could work on it. As she did, there was a knock at their door. "Come in," she called out.

Professor Utonium opened the door and poked his head in, "Hello, girls…how are my little writers doing?"

"Not bad," Buttercup replied. "We got a story idea, so we're gonna start the story now."

"Okay," he nodded. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Uh…do you need any kind of help?"

Blossom shook her head, "No, we're fine, thanks."

"Oh…all right…" the professor said. He opened the door wider and came into the room, carrying a stack of books, "But still, I thought I'd just leave these here in case you needed any kind of help…" He plunked the books down on the table one at a time, saying, "There's a dictionary, a thesaurus, a glossary of scientific terminology…"

"Um, professor…" Blossom began.

Ignoring her, he plunked the rest of the books down on the table, "…a guide on script writing, and finally, a 12-volume encyclopedia. Now, if you girls need _anything_ else, like advice or any more referential materials, just let me know, and I'll be right up to help out!"

Bubbles managed a small smile, "Okay…will do."

"Super!" he said, heading back for the door, "Well, I'll leave you three to write, now. Remember, I'll be downstairs. Bye!" He left the room, closing the door behind.

The girls glanced at each other, and Buttercup casually picked up the books off the table, setting them down on the ground…next to a huge pile of other books. "I hope that's the last time," she muttered.

"At least he means well," Blossom admitted. "All right, now let's begin…" She started writing, "The city of Townsville…"

"…a happy place," Bubbles added, "filled with happy people…"

"…except…when there's a _monster_ _attacking_!" Buttercup shouted, waving her arms in the air.

Blossom looked up from the paper, a little annoyed, "Buttercup, that'll disrupt the whole opening! We can't just suddenly leap into action like that!"

"Okay, okay," Buttercup said. "So what do _you_ say we do?"

"We have to build up to it," Blossom said. "Introduce ourselves first, you know."

Bubbles held her hands out, sliding them apart slowly like she was visualizing a scene, "The city of Townsville…home of those nice, cheerful, and happy doers of good, the bestest, brightest heroes…the Powerpuff Girls!"

Buttercup rolled her eyes, "Eeech. Like Bloss said before, we don't want to make anyone sick."

"Hey!" Bubbles said. "I think it sounds fine!"

"It doesn't sound fine at all! It stinks!" Buttercup yelled.

"Does _not_!"

"Does _too_!"

"_Does NOT!!_"

Blossom flew up from the table and shouted, "_All right!_ Knock it off! We're not getting anywhere this way. Can't we just find something we can agree on?"

Bubbles said, "How about…the city of Townsville…"

Buttercup continued, "…home of the Powerpuff Girls."

"Fine, that's great," Blossom nodded, writing it down. "Nice and simple, straight to the point. Well, that's _one_ line down."

Buttercup sighed, staring at Bubbles, "This is gonna take longer than I thought."

"Uh huh," Bubbles agreed, staring back at her.

"At least you're agreeing on _something_," Blossom remarked. "Okay, do you two promise to get along for the rest of this? Otherwise…" She smiled slightly, "…I'm gonna get the professor up to help us out."

Both of them said together, "You wouldn't dare!"

Blossom slowly took a deep breath, and started to shout, "PR—" but the other girls quickly flew over and slapped their hands over her mouth, cutting off her call.

"Okay, okay! We'll get along, I promise!" Bubbles exclaimed.

Buttercup nodded, "Yeah, we were just kidding around, really."

They slowly hovered back to their seats, and Blossom said, "Ok, here's the plan. Bubbles, you write the first part, leading up to the fight. Buttercup, you work on the fight with the giant monster. I'll start on the fight with Mojo. After we're done, we'll go over it with each other and make changes and stuff. Sounds good?"

Bubbles and Buttercup both smiled and said, "Yes!"

"All right," Blossom said, "let's do it!" The three of them picked up their pencils and started working on their respective sections, well into the following hour…

* * *

The very next day, back at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten, Ms. Keane looked up from the script as she finished reading it, and said, "Wow, I'm impressed, girls! You really did a fantastic job on this."

"Thanks, Ms. Keane!" Blossom said.

Buttercup asked, "So when do we start casting?"

"Tomorrow, if you'd like. Class!" Ms. Keane said, raising her voice. "We'll be having tryouts for the Powerpuff Girls' play, which is titled…" She looked back down at the script in her hands, and said, "…A Day in the Life of the Powerpuff Girls."

The class cheered, and the girls started flying from table to table, passing out copies of the script. Blossom said, "We'll need several parts for the play. Someone to play each of _us_, of course, and there are also major parts needed for Professor Utonium, the Mayor of Townsville, the giant monster, and Mojo Jojo. Don't worry, there are plenty of other parts, too…the citizens of Townsville and stuff." The children all took the scripts and looked over them, and started talking to each other about which part they wanted to play.

"I wanna be Bubbles!"

"No way…Buttercup!"

"The monster sounds cool…"

"I'm gonna be Mojo!"

At one of the tables, Princess looked over the script, raising an eyebrow disdainfully. _What a pathetic excuse for a play,_ she thought. _Still, with _me_ starring in it, it'll be an _instant_ success. I'll try out for Blossom…and I'll be a _better_ Blossom than the _real_ one, and show them _all_ who's the greatest!_

* * *

"Very well done, Tommy," Ms. Keane said. "Next?"

It was the following day, in the classroom, and the auditions were proceeding smoothly. Tommy left the front of the class and went back to his seat. The other children applauded his tryout. As he sat down, Elmer got up and quietly walked out to the front of the class. He looked nervous.

"Don't be shy, Elmer," Ms. Keane said, reassuringly, "just try your best." The girls, hovering next to her desk, nodded in agreement.

Elmer took a deep breath. Removing his glasses, he formed a circle out of his fingers, holding it up over his left eye, while clenching his right eye shut. He waved his free arm in the air and said, "Bwaah, Powerpuff Girls! There's a giant monster attacking the city! Save us!" His impersonation of the Mayor's voice was dead-on; everyone, including the girls and Ms. Keane, were in peals of laughter.

"Hahaha! That's so great!" Buttercup said, trying to catch her breath between laughs.

Ms. Keane chuckled, "Well, I think everyone will agree with me that Elmer should get the part. Congratulations!" Replacing his glasses, he grinned modestly and sat back down at his seat, while the rest of the class applauded him.

"This is fun! Who's next?" Bubbles asked.

"Next we have…" Ms. Keane looked over the script and said, "Tryouts for Mojo Jojo." Several people in the class raised their arms, waving them in the air. She looked them over and said, "Ok, we'll start with…Jimmy."

As Jimmy came forward to read his lines, Princess was reading over the lines for Blossom one more time. _This'll be a cinch,_ she thought. _Little do _they_ know that I hired a professional actor to give me lessons last night! Not that I wasn't _already_ the best actor in the class. But now I'm even _better_! There's no _way_ I can lose the part now!_

She was alone with these thoughts for some time while the tryouts continued. Several more classmates had spoken the lines up in front of the room, and one of them was just finishing up. "Very nice," Ms. Keane said. "And last for the part of Mojo is…Mitch."

Mitch pumped a fist in the air and said, "Yeah!" He suddenly ran up to the front of the class and leapt on top of Ms. Keane's desk, a move that surprised her _and_ the girls.

"Hey, what are you…" Blossom began.

Mitch pointed at the Powerpuffs and shouted, in a slightly deeper voice than usual, "That's right, cower in panic and fear! For once I release my giant monster, the city of Townsville will be destroyed, because the monster is huge, and not at all diminutive in size! If you try to stop it, it will destroy _you_ as _well_ as the city, although not necessarily in that order. Farewell, Powerpuff Girls!" He threw back his head and cackled, "Muahahahahahaha!"

A silence fell over the room for a few moments. The girls stared at him in shock, then smiles crossed their faces. They started applauding, and the rest of the class slowly joined in, the applause turning into cheers. Mitch, grinning ear-to-ear, bowed to the class and said, "Thank you, thank you!"

"Excellent!" Ms. Keane commended him, "You make a _very_ convincing villain!" As Mitch returned to his seat, Ms. Keane read over a list and said, "All right, moving on…it's time for the Blossom auditions…" A dozen hands flew up, waving frantically, and Ms. Keane smiled, "Don't worry, you'll _all_ get your chance…"

"I don't think so!" Princess shouted out, hopping out of her seat and walking to the front. Everyone stared at her as she continued speaking, "You see, after everyone sees _my_ audition, there'll be no _need_ for anyone else to try out. I'm _clearly_ going to be the _best_!"

"In your dreams!" Buttercup exclaimed.

Blossom didn't look too happy about it, but she said, "It's okay. Let's give her a chance." She glanced at Ms. Keane, who nodded her okay. "Who knows, she might be a great actor…"

"Of _course_ I am!" Princess huffed. "Just stand back and watch!" She stood in front of everyone and prepared to begin her audition.

Bubbles folded her arms, and whispered, "This I gotta see…"

After clearing her throat, she struck a 'dramatic' pose, holding her arm out in front of her, and called out, "Townsville _is_ in danger…and we, will save _it_! Evil! Doers, beware, for _you_…you…" She trailed off, and turned to Ms. Keane, shouting at the top of her lungs, "_LINE!_"

Ms. Keane hastily looked it up, and said, "…you now face the Powerpuff Girls."

She turned back to the class and finished up the line, "…_you_ now face _the_ Powerpuff _Girls_!" She smiled and stood there, waiting for the applause. The room was silent, however, as everyone stared at her, blinking in surprise.

Breaking the silence, Ms. Keane said, "Ahh, that was…very…_thought_-provoking, Princess."

Buttercup muttered under her breath, "Yeah…I _think_ I'm gonna be sick…"

"No kidding," Blossom whispered back. "I can't decide if that was a comedy or a tragedy…"

Princess, oblivious to all of this, said to Ms. Keane, "So, I get the part, right? There's no _way_ anyone else can top _that_, you _have_ to admit."

"Well, it…it wouldn't be fair _not_ to give them a chance," Ms. Keane replied. "So please, take your seat, and we'll continue on with the auditions."

Princess scowled a little, but then said smugly, "Fine. Either way, it doesn't matter, that part is _clearly_ mine." She walked back and sat down, clasping her hands in front of her on the desk and grinning widely, thinking, _I did it…the lead role is as good as mine now!_

"Yes…well…" Ms. Keane said. "Next is…Mary."

Mary came up to the front of the class. She seemed quite eager to try out for the part of Blossom. Ms. Keane nodded to her, "All right, Mary, go ahead."

Looking back towards the class, Mary wore a determined expression and shouted, "Townsville is in danger…and we will _save_ it! Evildoers, beware! For you now face…the Powerpuff Girls!"

The class applauded, and Blossom smiled. Bubbles whispered, "Hey, not bad!"

Buttercup whispered, "Yeah! I say _she_ gets the part!"

As Mary returned to her seat, Princess stared blankly at her, in shock, while the class' applause and cheering continued on in the background. Her eyes narrowed, and she didn't even seem to notice as the auditions proceeded…

* * *

Everyone watched silently as Ms. Keane wrote the list of all the parts on the board, and started writing names next to each one. Cheers rose for each person that was listed. Elmer smiled…he got the part of the Mayor like he wanted. Mitch was also chosen as Mojo, as everyone had expected.

As the rest of the names were written down, everyone watched eagerly to see who would get to play the Powerpuff Girls themselves. Ms. Keane started writing next to Blossom's part…as she stepped aside, it read, "Mary".

Another large cheer rose up, and Mary couldn't have been happier. Princess, though, slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "_What?!_ How _dare_ you turn me down for that part!!"

"Oh, come _on_, Princess," Blossom said back to her. "You sounded like you didn't even _practice_ the part at all!"

"I _did_ practice!" Princess insisted. "I had them read it off to me, like thirty times!" 

Buttercup slapped her forehead, and sighed in frustration. "You can't just…aww, forget it. You're hopeless."

Princess growled for a moment, then frowned and said, "All right, _fine_…you can _have_ your little play, but we'll _see_ who has the last laugh!" She got up and started storming out of the class.

"Princess!" Ms. Keane shouted. "Not until class is ov—" She was interrupted by the school bell going off. She finished, "—er."

The students started pouring out of the classroom. As Bubbles flew out, she said to Buttercup, "Princess seemed upset…"

"Gee, really? You think?" Buttercup said sarcastically. "When _isn't_ she upset about something?"

"I dunno," Blossom said, "I just hope she doesn't take this too badly…"

* * *

After another couple weeks of rehearsals, they were all finally ready for performance night. They had gotten permission to use the auditorium at Pokey Oaks High School, since their kindergarten building didn't have one. The parents were coming in and sitting down as the time for the performance drew closer, and so were a large number of other citizens of Townsville.

Blossom peeked out from behind the curtain at all the people and said, "Wow…I can't believe a kindergarten play is getting this kind of turnout."

"Yeah," Buttercup said. "Even the Mayor is here, look!" Sure enough, the Mayor and his assistant, Miss Bellum, had also found a seat near the front to watch the play.

Bubbles, in the meantime, was flying around with the script in her hand, and looked nervous as everyone was getting ready to start the play. "Okay," she said. "Is everyone here? Mitch!"

Mitch was just putting the last piece of his costume on, Mojo's helmet, and said, "Here!"

Bubbles nodded quickly, and said, "Pablo!"

Pablo, who had combed his hair out flat and was dressed up in a white lab coat, nodded, "Si!"

"Julie!" Bubbles continued.

In front of one of the backstage mirrors, Julie was adjusting her hair into the pigtails. She was wearing a blue dress similar to Bubbles. "Almost ready!"

"Ok, hurry up…" Bubbles said. "Harry!"

Off to one side was the large mock-up of the dinosaur creature, made of foam rubber and paper mâché. The hinged mouth opened up, and Harry poked his head out, giving a thumbs-up.

"Cool," Bubbles said. "Kim!"

Kim rushed out from the direction of the dressing room…she was wearing a green dress and had her hair combed like Buttercup's. She shouted, "Here!"

"All right…everyone else, it's almost showtime!" Bubbles said. She glanced nervously at the clock, and flipped through the pages of the script once again, double-checking that everything was in place.

Blossom flew up next to her and said, "Don't worry, Bubbles, everything will go just great. The play will go off without a hitch, you'll see…"

"Mike! Where's Mike?!" Bubbles shouted, still staring at the script and ignoring Blossom. She flew off in search of him, and Blossom sighed, floating back down next to the curtain to peek out into the audience again.

Backstage, by the dressing room, the door opened, and Princess' head emerged, looking around to make sure no one was around. She grinned evilly and sneaked out, ducking behind a stack of cardboard boxes, just as Mary came walking from the opposite direction, going into the dressing room. Princess said to herself, "So, 'Blossom'…let's see how well you can lead the girls without _this_!" She looked down at the red bow in her hands that she had swiped from the dressing room, and chuckled.

A moment later, a scream of alarm came from Mary in the dressing room. All three Powerpuff Girls shot past Princess' hiding place, and flew into the room. Blossom said, "Mary? What's wrong?"

Mary was frantically digging through all the props and clothing in the room, shouting, "Where is it? I can't find it!"

"You can't find _what_?" Buttercup asked.

"The bow!" Mary exclaimed. "The bow's gone! How can I be Blossom without a _bow_?!" She started crying a little.

"Oh no! Not _now_!" Bubbles fretted, "The play's gonna start in less than a minute! What do we do?"

Blossom thought furiously for a moment, then her face lit up, and she said, "I've got it!"

"What?" Buttercup asked.

As the other girls watched, she slowly reached up and took the bow from the top of her own head, and held it out towards Mary. Mary looked at it, in shock, "Your…_your_ bow? But…I could never…"

"Don't worry about it," Blossom told her, with a smile. "Take it. The show _must_ go on."

After a moment of hesitation, Mary reached out and took the bow. She slowly fixed it on top of her head, and smiled happily, holding back tears of joy, "Thank you!"

"No problem," Blossom said. "Now…go out there and be the best Blossom you can be!" Mary nodded confidently, and rushed out of the dressing room, the Powerpuffs following right behind her. Princess watched them go by from her hiding place, and gritted her teeth angrily.

Out in the audience, the lights dimmed, and some spotlights turned on, illuminating the stage. The crowd clapped their hands as Ms. Keane stepped out onto the stage. She smiled and said, "Welcome, everyone, to the play. As you know, three very special girls wrote this play…it's called, 'A Day in the Life of the Powerpuff Girls'. So without further ado, let the show begin!" Another round of applause, and Ms. Keane left the stage.

There was a pause, and Mike peered out from the edge of the stage timidly. Bubbles, offstage directly behind him, whispered, "Go ahead! You'll do fine!" Mike swallowed once, and stepped out on stage. He walked up to the microphone on one side, and cleared his throat. Behind him, the curtain slowly parted, revealing a set of cardboard backdrops that looked like a city skyline.

Mike spoke, "The city of Townsville…home of the Powerpuff Girls. But who are these girls, and where did they come from? Let's find out, by visiting the home of the guy who made them, Professor Utonium." The cardboard buildings slid aside, revealing a laboratory setting. Pablo stood out on stage behind one of the tables, holding a vial of 'chemicals' in each hand…actually just water with food coloring.

In the audience, Professor Utonium grinned. He leaned over and whispered to the person sitting next to him, "That's _me_ up there. Heh heh…"

Backstage, Blossom watched the play unfolding and said, "So far, so good…" Suddenly, something caught her eye. On the table Pablo was standing next to was supposed to be the ingredients he'd be mixing: sugar, spice, and everything nice. Except…the sugar wasn't there; it was missing.

Bubbles saw it too, and cringed, "Where's the _sugar_? I _know_ I put it out there!"

Looking around, Buttercup spotted a few spare bags of sugar, leftover from their earlier rehearsals. She picked one of them up and flew behind the laboratory backdrop. Onstage, she could hear Pablo talking, "Now, to complete my formula for the perfect little girls…" She knew she only had seconds left at best.

Using her eyebeams, she carefully cut a small hole in the backdrop…the audience didn't see it, since the tables on the stage blocked their view. She slipped through the hole quietly, staying low to avoid being seen, and crept over behind the table that held the other ingredients.

She waited until Pablo started speaking again, "…and let's see…I know _just_ what to put into the…" Now that the audience's attention was on him, she reached up from behind the table and put the bag of sugar out on it with amazing speed, so fast that nobody noticed. She immediately crept back to the hole she had made and left the stage.

Bubbles and Blossom were waiting for her there. "Whew, that was a _close_ one," Bubbles said.

"Yeah," Buttercup agreed. "Bubbles, are you _sure_ you put the sugar out there before?"

"Positive!" Bubbles said.

Blossom narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "Something funny's going on…"

Out on the stage, Pablo walked over and picked up the ingredients from the table, "Sugar, spice, and everything nice. _This_ should do the trick!" He dumped them into a large bowl and started mixing.

In the audience, the Mayor looked confused, and whispered to Miss Bellum, "Eh, what's he doing? Is he making cookies?"

"No, Mayor," Miss Bellum replied, "he's making the Powerpuff Girls…"

"Oh, okay…" the Mayor said. "I was gonna say, 'cause he left out flour and stuff…"

As Pablo mixed the ingredients in the bowl, Mike said into the microphone, "But then, something unexpected happened. He accidentally added a _fourth_ ingredient…" Pablo's mixing spoon bumped into a beaker sitting nearby, and it dumped out into the bowl. Mike finished, "…Chemical X!"

There was an 'explosion', simulated by a strobe light. Behind the stage, Blossom took a hold of a rope, along with the other girls, and said, "Ready? Ok, pull _now_!" They tugged on the ropes, and onstage, the strobe light turned off. Now, hovering above the table, suspended by the ropes, were Kim, Mary, and Julie, dressed up as the Powerpuff Girls.

They had no problem holding onto them, but Blossom glimpsed upwards, spotting something above her. On the catwalks above, someone in the shadows was reaching out with a pair of scissors to cut the rope. Blossom gasped…_I knew it! Someone's trying to sabotage the play!_

The figure cut through the rope, but in less than a split-second, Blossom had flown up and caught a hold of it, before Mary could fall any more than about an inch. Now up by the catwalk, she could see the saboteur clearly, "Princess! _You're_ the one doing this?"

"That's right!" Princess exclaimed, dropping the scissors. "Let's see _how_ much people love your play once _I'm_ done with it!" She quickly ran off, from the catwalk. The girls couldn't follow her because they were too busy holding the ropes for the other girls on stage. All they could do was watch her escape.

"Aw, man," Buttercup said, "_now_ what? She's gonna ruin _everything_! We can't let her!"

"Just keep your eyes open," Blossom said. "If she tries anything else, we have to stop before she can disrupt the play. When this scene is done, Buttercup, you go look for Princess. Bubbles, you stay with the others, to make sure she doesn't come backstage anymore. I'll look for her in the audience."

The scene onstage thankfully concluded, and the Townsville cardboard cutouts slid back into place. The Powerpuffs set Kim, Mary, and Julie back down. Immediately, Buttercup flew off in search of Princess. Bubbles stayed by the backstage area where the other kids were, and Blossom took a position near the curtain, peeking out. Everything seemed quiet, as the next scene was ready to begin.

Buttercup flew back, next to Blossom, and whispered, "I couldn't find her. She's not back here at all anymore."

"I don't see her in the audience, so where could she be?" Blossom wondered.

Mike started to speak into the microphone, but no sound came out. He stopped talking, and curiously tapped on it, trying to get a response. Blossom exclaimed, "Control room, quick!"

Buttercup dashed out the side door and made her way to the control room from the hallways outside the auditorium. In only a couple of seconds, she was there. Princess had already left, though, but as she expected, the microphones were shut off. She was about to turn them back on, but she noticed that Princess had set the volume dial all the way to maximum.

__

Heh, nice try, she thought…_Trying to blow out the speakers? Or our Eardrums?_ Se turned them back down to a reasonable level and activated the microphones again. Mike began narrating again immediately, "And that's how the girls were created. But enough about that. The city of Townsville is in danger! A giant monster is attacking!"

Some of the classmates carefully wheeled the mock-up monster forward, staying low and out of sight. Harry, inside the monster's head, opened and closed the jaw, making growling noises. The audience was impressed by this, and amused as well.

Kim, Mary, and Julie rushed out onto the stage. Kim pointed at the monster and said, "Look! It's attacking Townsville!"

Julie shouted, "We gotta stop it!"

"Yes, and fast!" Mary said. "But who could have created a monster like this?"

"I'll tell you!" came a shout from offstage. Mitch stomped out, grinning evilly, and said, "It was I, Mojo Jojo, who has created the creature you see before you! It was fashioned by _me_! And with it, I will finally put an end to you and Townsville once and for all!"

Bubbles watched this from offstage, and grinned. Mitch was doing even a _better_ job than during the rehearsals. She flipped through the script and then looked at the monster. Harry was also doing all of his 'lines' flawlessly. She almost didn't know why she was nervous in the first place…everyone was doing such a splendid job.

Her eyes caught something. Princess was back up on the catwalk again. Blossom hadn't noticed, because she was looking out in the audience still. Now, she was cutting through the support for a huge sandbag, positioned directly over the monster. Before Bubbles could act, the rope was cut, and the sandbag plummeted down towards the stage.

Dropping the script, she flew up and managed to throw herself between the monster and the sandbag. She caught it just above the visible area of the stage…another foot, and the audience would have seen it. Above her, Princess fumed…she started running along the catwalk, cutting more ropes as she went, and releasing more sandbags towards the stage.

Bubbles gasped, and flew quickly back and forth, catching each sandbag as it fell. Even though the weight wasn't a problem, it was still awkward to hold them all, and the pile of sandbags she held began to totter. Noticing Harry about to growl again, she heaved the sandbags to one side, and they all landed on the ground _behind_ the backdrop. The small tremor that was caused by their impact came at the same time as the monster growling.

"Wow," Professor Utonium said from the audience, oblivious to what was going on backstage. "That was a clever special effect!"

Bubbles wiped her forehead, "Whew!" She shot a look back up at the catwalk, but Princess had already run off. "Ooh, that…" she began, shaking her fists in frustration.

Down below her, she got a good view of the 'monster' fighting. Kim charged towards it and started throwing little punches and kicks…softly, of course, so she didn't damage the prop. The monster's head pointed down, and it breathed fire, in the form of a bunch of red and yellow streamers. Kim backed up to a safer distance.

__

At least the play's still going all right, Bubbles thought. _How long can we keep this up, though?_

Mitch cackled, "Yess! Run, citizens of Townsville! Run for your lives!" The other classmates, dressed up as 'citzens', started running across the stage screaming, with the monster growling at them. At once, all girls spotted Princess at the same time…she was in with the rest of the class, running across the stage with them. At once, all three of them realized the danger. From onstage, Princess could do _anything_, and there'd be almost no way of stopping her.

Blossom dashed to the side of the stage, just out of sight of the audience…Bubbles was still directly above the stage, and Buttercup was making her way back from the control room. They all watched helplessly, waiting for her to make her move.

Princess took a deep breath...Blossom knew immediately that she was about to shout _something_ out. She had to do something _now_ to stop her. Reacting quickly, she did the first thing that came to mind: she pushed the edge of the monster prop, knocking it forward slightly. It rammed into Princess, knocking her off her feet...from the audience's perspective, it just looked like the monster advanced and stepped on her.

More importantly, Princess had fallen on the ground behind one of the cardboard cutouts of the city. Now that she was out of sight, Blossom flew low across the stage, staying behind the cutouts, and snatched her, pulling her off the stage on the opposite side.

All three girls converged at that side of the stage, surrounding her. Buttercup gritted her teeth and said, "All right, Princess, I don't know _where_ you got the idea that you could just _charge_ in here and try to spoil everyone's fun, but..."

"Hey!" Princess shouted back, "This never would've _happened_ if you picked _me_ to be Blossom instead of that _loser_! It's all _your_ fault, not _mine_!"

"At least you're not gonna be causing any _more_ trouble tonight," Buttercup said.

Princess just smiled, something that surprised them, and said, "That's what _you_ think..."

Out on the stage, Mary and Kim had just defeated the 'monster', and Mitch was firing foam darts from a plastic rifle at Julie, who was dodging them. Mike continued narrating, "Now, with his monster defeated, Mojo now faced the Powerpuff Girls alone. But he had one final trick..."

Mitch raised a remote control and grinned, "Muahahahaha! With one press of this button, a gigantic bomb I have hidden in a location that you do not know of will destroy all of Townsville! That's right, you have lost! It is I who have won!"

"Actually," Princess muttered from backstage, "It's _I _who've won! I substituted that remote for the _real_ one...when he presses that button, it'll release a knockout gas across the whole auditorium! The play will be ruined for sure! And there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

She waited for a reaction of fear, or at least resentment, from the girls, but they just smiled at her. Bubbles giggled, "Princess, did you even _read_ the script?"

"Ahhh..." Princess said, "...why?"

Blossom pointed at the stage, "Because Mojo never gets to _press_ the button, see?" Sure enough, Mitch was lowering his finger towards the remote, but before he could activate it, Mary raised her hands to her mouth and blew. Thanks to a special effect with a wad of white and blue streamers in her palm, her 'ice breath' blew across the stage and onto Mojo, who immediately 'froze' in place.

Through strained teeth, Mitch--_and_ Princess--both said simultaneously, "Curses!"

Mike spoke into the microphone, "Thanks to their teamwork, Mojo Jojo was defeated. And so, once again, the day is saved...thanks to, the Powerpuff Girls!" A curtain with a heart-shaped pattern on it dropped down across the stage, and Mary, Kim, and Julie struck a pose at the center of the stage.

The crowd applauded and cheered. The other students came out on stage next to them, and the entire group bowed. The girls flew onstage, hovering above the center, and also bowed. Everyone stood up and continued their ovation. While they applauded, Mary removed the bow from her head and handed it up to Blossom, who smiled and nodded a thank-you, returning it to her hair.

Princess was just about to quietly sneak off, when Ms. Keane blocked her path, arms folded across her chest, "*Ahem*...Young lady, we need to have a little talk..."

Princess hung her head and muttered, "Lousy...stupid...Powerpuff Girls..."

The girls looked off the side of the stage and noticed Princess and Ms. Keane. Bubbles said, "Look! Now that's the best scene I've seen all day..."

"Yeah," Blossom said, "She won't be acting up any _more_..." The three of them laughed, as the audience continued to applaud them all.

And so, once again, the day was saved...both in fact _and_ fiction...by the Powerpuff Girls!

**__**

THE END


End file.
